by Yvette Brand

December 1994 marked a new era in local government. The Kennett state government had taken a knife and slashed local councils across the state.

The reforms dissolved 210 councils, sacked 1600 elected councillors and created 78 new municipalities through amalgamations.
It was 30 years last week since the formation of Baw Baw Shire Council - the amalgamation of Warragul Rural City, Buln Buln and Narracan shires.
It was a milestone that passed with little fanfare, a mention in passing by mayor Danny Goss, ironically at the beginning of the newest elected council's first meeting.
Thirty years ago, as councillors across three municipalities held their final meetings, community members feared there would be a loss of democracy.
Government appointed commissioners had been put in place to lead an independent review of local government functions - inside and out.
The newly formed Baw Baw Shire was already notching up "firsts" - it was the only one of the new municipalities to have a locally appointed commissioner, Warragul solicitor Wayne Hardie.
For Mr Hardie, a keen political observer, he applied for a commissioner position - but only ever wanted Baw Baw Shire.
"I was strongly of the view that local knowledge was an important factor," he said last week, reflecting on the then and now of Baw Baw Shire.
He was appointed Chief Commissioner, to lead fellow Commissioners Tom Wallace and Peter Western, working alongside interim chief executive officer John Mitchell.
"I was of the view for a long time that local government needed attention. I thought the way local government functioned was a little dysfunctional and some thought needed to be given to improving that.
Thirty years on, were the reforms and subsequent work of commissioners successful?
"Joining municipalities and creating bigger entities was successful. Whether the operations within those entities have been successful is another matter.
"The idea of bigger and more cost effective municipalities was a good one but I wonder if full advantage has been taken of the opportunities," he said.
Mr Hardie said the the combined knowledge, skills and experience of the three commissioners made for a particularly strong administration.
He admits they had only a few disagreements - the farm and commercial differential rates being one of those points of difference.
Mr Hardie said he did not believe farmers should receive a discount while commercial ratepayers pay a loading - "what's the difference they are both commercial operations." But, he said, he lost that argument and the differential rate policy still remains today.
The commissioners set out to achieve expenditure savings of more than $3 million, which was nine per cent of the current expenditure then and they had to pass on a 20 per cent rate cap reduction of $2.7 million.
By March 1997, handing over to the first elected council, Mr Hardie said he was happy they had "done their job."
He said a "fine field of candidates was elected for the first council" and he never once felt any remorse for not being in the job any longer.
"It was very intense, it was every day and they were long days. So when it ended, there was a degree of relief that we could step back from it. We knew we had handed it over in a good position.
"A new financial regime had been settled and was stable so it provided the incoming council with plenty of opportunities to set priorities and actions.
"There was a well structured, settled and content organisation in place," he said.
Reflecting on what they achieved and what they left for the future of the municipality, Mr Hardie said he once said their "greatest achievement" was securing Bonlac at Darnum - adding it delivered jobs and highlighted the importance of the dairy industry.
But, he said, the greatest achievement was the "seamless amalgamation with a contented staff and I think the communities were happy."
"There was no strong community agitation. We listened and reacted and did what we could to address their concerns.
"We would look at The Gazette each Tuesday and see what malcontents were in there - but we had most of them sorted by the end of the day," he said.
Acknowledging there were a few challenging community members to deal with, Mr Hardie said he was pleased they did not have to deal with the social media phenomenon that current councillors face.
"It is causing problems as far as courteous discourse. What they aren't prepared to say to your face they type into the mobile phone - I am glad we didn't have to deal with it.
"There is nothing wrong with people having a contrary opinion and having a civil discussion about it," he said.
Looking at the population growth in Baw Baw over the past 10 years, Mr Hardie said it was never something the commissioners contemplated to the current levels.
He said protecting prime agricultural land from future residential development had been a clear priority of the commissioners and "it's quite clear that has not been a driving principle of subsequent councils and respective state governments."
"In my view, the less quality land should have been the areas where new communities were developed rather than incrementally extending Warragul and Drouin.
"I'd like to think I would've done things differently...but one does not know the political imperatives that set the overarching guidelines."
Like any community member, Mr Hardie has his views on council decisions. He believes some planning decisions could have been handled differently and he is not "absolutely convinced" of the need for the new culture centre and library.
Compared to his days, he also is concerned there appears to be less engineering experience and knowledge on staff, with many works, including roads now being contracted out.
"That lived skill and knowledge doesn't seem to be there anymore...everything is outsourced these days and it's a pity they didn't maintain some of the in-house skills," he said.
Mr Hardie believes there is overall a strong community interest in local government.
"That is evident in the letters to the editor in The Gazette, they come from a wide range of people from different views and ages.
"Most people are aware of what's going on (in council) and are interested in the way council conducts itself and the decisions being made.
Mr Hardie said the most recent election results were testament to the community feeling strongly about roads, rates and rubbish.
"Even though local government is far more nuanced than that, they are central to their responsibilities.
"I do think the last council got distracted with issues that weren't core," he said.